Andrea Innocenti September 2026 promises to be a month packed with cultural and creative innovations. Among the most anticipated releases are five nonfiction books ranging from history and psychology to memory and romantic relationships. Meanwhile, the design world is preparing to host international events celebrating innovation and craftsmanship.
This month offers the opportunity to delve into complex issues through nonfiction and explore new frontiers of design through events that combine tradition and innovation.
The most anticipated essays of September 2026
Among this month's new literary releases, five essays stand out, promising to enrich our understanding of the present through diverse historical, social, and personal perspectives.
The 1976 Davis Cup and a changing Italy
On September 11, Eliana Di Caro will publish “The Year of Davis.
"1976 and the Changing Italy" is a book that uses the 1976 Davis Cup final as a lens through which to observe a profoundly changing Italy. The Italian team's victory over Chile, ruled by the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, raised political and moral questions that reflected the tensions of the time.
Di Caro reconstructs this story by intertwining sport and history, with testimonies from Giuliano Amato and Paolo Bertolucci.
The book is a journey into the past that helps us better understand the present, showing how sport can reflect a country's social and political dynamics.
Fascism and European culture
On September 18, Mimesis will publish "The Rise of Fascism in Italy and Other German Writings (1919-1928)" by Robert Michels. This volume collects significant writings that Michels dedicated to post-World War I Italy and the rise of fascism. Michels, known for his studies of elites, observed the political transformations of his time, gradually coming closer to fascism.
Reading these writings today offers a unique perspective on how a segment of European culture interpreted the weakening of liberal democracies after the First World War and the rise of authoritarian movements. The relationship between elites, masses, democracy, and power is central to this collection, making it useful for interrogating contemporary political systems as well.
Mourning and memory
On September 22, NN Editore will publish "Things in Nature Simply Grow" by Yiyun Li, winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Memoir or Autobiography. This memoir was born from the painful experience of the deaths of the writer's two sons, Vincent in 2017 and James in 2024, both of whom died by suicide.
Yiyun Li approaches the theme of grief with a radical reflection on language and memory. The book explores the difficulty of finding words capable of containing such a loss and the continued use of language as a tool to maintain a relationship with those no longer physically present. Even verb tenses become important in this narrative, showing how a mother's bond with her children continues to exist.
Design events not to be missed
September 2026 will also be a month packed with design events celebrating innovation and craftsmanship. Among these are the Lake Como Design Festival, Homo Faber, Zurich Design Weeks, La Scuola Inutile, and Vienna Design Week.
Lake Como Design Festival
From September 12th to 20th, the eighth edition of the Lake Como Design Festival will intertwine contemporary design, architecture, art, and landscape. This year's theme is Borders , understood as liminal spaces of relationships. The festival will take place not only in Como, but also in Lecco, on the opposite shore of the lake.
Among the main projects, Villa del Grumello will host Future in the Past, a journey through the relationship between archives, productive knowledge, and contemporary practices. In the park, Nella Natura will be a photography exhibition curated by Paola Manfredi, featuring images by Selene Magnolia Gatti. At Villa Saporiti, the Contemporary Design Selection, curated by Giovanna Massoni and directed by Francesca Prandelli, will present over fifty international participants invited to engage with the border as a space of transgression, reciprocity, and exploration.
Homo Faber in Venice
Homo Faber will return to Venice, on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, for its grand exhibition dedicated to contemporary artisan excellence. This edition, the fourth, is titled "An Island of Light," and the artistic direction has been entrusted to British set designer Es Devlin.
The immersive Homo Faber exhibition revolves around light as a symbolic, scenographic, and narrative material. In the exhibition, master craftsmen from around the world will discuss the value of manual labor in a context where craftsmanship is not nostalgia for the past, but a tool for imagining new forms of beauty, slowness, and awareness. Alongside the main exhibition, Homo Faber in the City will take the public inside Venetian workshops, ateliers, and locations connected to craftsmanship.
Zurich Design Weeks
From September 17 to 27, Zurich will host the fifth edition of Zurich Design Weeks, with the theme OUT OF…, an invitation to step outside the confines of the known to explore new ideas, practices, and perspectives on the future of design. For eleven days, Zurich will transform into a multifaceted platform featuring exhibitions, installations, workshops, urban walks, and meetings.
The festival confirms its hybrid, very Swiss nature: precise in its organization, yet open to experimentation. Between Design Zentrale, the Museum für Gestaltung, and city tours, the program conveys a vision of design as a discipline capable of challenging established habits and opening up spaces of possibility.
The Useless School in Milan
At the ADI Design Museum in Milan , from September 14th to 17th, the first edition of La Scuola Inutile, a cultural and educational project by Mario Trimarchi and Stefano Mirti, will take place. The project stems from a provocative question: what happens when design stops responding to efficiency, performance, and immediate results?
For four days, the museum will become a space for exercise and disalignment, where practices, conversations, and workshops will invite us to rediscover the useless as fertile ground for imagining, observing, and designing differently. In an age dominated by functionality and constant measurement, the initiative offers a brief pause to observe the present from a lateral perspective.
Vienna Design Week
Vienna Design Week turns twenty and celebrates its anniversary with a new, multi-venue edition that transforms the Austrian capital into a "city full of design." Since 2007, the festival has told the stories behind objects, creating connections between designers, artisans, industries, institutions, and the public.
Among the events of the 2026 edition, the MAK will present an exhibition dedicated to the festival's posters, while Urban Food & Design will continue its exploration of the connections between food and design. The program will range from exhibitions, installations, talks, workshops, and participatory formats, confirming the festival's approach to creating connections between different disciplines.